JPH0432565Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a wear sensor that is installed on the peripheral wall of an object to be worn, such as a cylinder, to detect the degree of wear of the peripheral wall of the object to be worn.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the degree of wear on the peripheral wall of an object to be worn, such as a cylinder, has been intuitively detected from the outside by checking the rattling of the cylinder head, etc. that moves back and forth on the peripheral wall, and then the object to be worn has been disassembled and the cylinder head, etc. The actual degree of wear was detected by removing the outer ring and looking at the surrounding wall to determine the actual degree of wear.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, it is difficult to detect the degree of wear on the peripheral wall of the wear object from the outside, and there are problems such as the need for troublesome work such as disassembly and removal to actually detect the degree of wear. Ta.

A solution to this problem is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. Sho 60-151996. That is, the optical fiber is curved in the middle into a U-shape, and this part is located on the worn part of the object to be detected, and the wear is not detected from the state of the light that enters from one end of the optical fiber and exits at the other end. be. A plurality of optical fibers are arranged with different curvatures so that the amount of wear can be quantified. As wear progresses, it becomes impossible to obtain light emitted from the outer optical fibers.

When using such conventional devices, it is extremely difficult to set the curvature of multiple optical fibers or the mutual separation distance manually, which makes it extremely difficult to do so correctly. accuracy is low.

The present invention was devised in view of the above circumstances, and its main purpose is to provide a wear sensor that is easy to manufacture and has little detection error.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a polymer waveguide in which a plurality of high refractive index portions, each serving as a separate optical path, are sequentially arranged from one side of the waveguide toward the inside. , one end of the high refractive index portion is connected to the light source, the other end is connected to the light receiving side, and the one side surface is made to face the object to be worn.

[Effect]

In the present invention, with the above configuration, when the body to be worn is worn, the polymer waveguide is worn from the one side surface side, and the high refractive index portion gradually becomes unable to transmit light.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained based on drawings showing embodiments thereof.

FIG. 3 is a schematic partially cutaway perspective view of the first embodiment of the wear sensor according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the main part of the body to be worn, showing its attached state.

As shown in FIG. 3, the wear sensor A according to the first embodiment has a protective cylinder part 2 provided at the lower part of a base member 1 having a flat prismatic shape, and a protective cylinder part 2 on the upper surface part of the base member 1. A block body 4' containing a molecular waveguide 3' is provided. The polymer waveguide 3' has a rectangular plate shape. Then, a polymer waveguide 3' formed by low refractive index parts 3'a... and high refractive index parts 3'b... which are arranged alternately downward from the upper surface side is molded with synthetic resin into a circular shape. A columnar block body 4' is provided on the upper surface of the flat prismatic base member 1, and optical fibers 3 are connected to both ends of the high refractive index portion 3'b of the polymer waveguide 3'. The optical fibers 3 are connected in sequence, with one end serving as a light source and the other end serving as a light receiving side. The optical fibers 3, 3... are coated with a coating 5,
5 has been done. A screw is threaded around the outer periphery of the block body 4'.

As shown in FIG. 2, this wear sensor A is constructed by inserting a screw-shaped portion of the outer periphery of the block body 4' into a screw hole c provided at a predetermined location on the peripheral wall b of the wear object B, which is made of a cylinder peripheral wall, for example. The upper surface of the distal end portion thereof is screwed and installed so that it faces flush with the inner surface of the peripheral wall b of the body to be worn. Further, within the body to be worn B, a cylinder head D at the tip of the rod C is arranged so as to be able to reciprocate. The upper surface of the block body 4' is the worn body B
Needless to say, it is necessary to mold the material to match the inner shape of the material.

With the above configuration, when the inner surface of the circumferential wall b of the wearable body B is worn due to the high-speed reciprocating movement of the cylinder head D inside the wearable body B by the rod C, the block body 4' of the wear sensor A and the polymer The waveguide 3' is worn out, and the high refractive index section 3'b is worn down and cut from the upper side. Then, the light incident from the light source is transmitted to the cut high refractive index portion 3'b.
It is no longer detected by the light-receiving elements that are connected to it.
Therefore, this high refractive index portion 3' that is no longer detected
It is found that the inner surface of the peripheral wall b of the wear object B has been worn down to the array dimension position b. In this way, the degree of wear on the inner surface of the peripheral wall b of the body B to be worn can be determined.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wear sensor A'' according to the second embodiment integrates the light source side of the high refractive index section 3''b of the polymer waveguide 3'' into one light source, and connects a plurality of light sources from the distribution section. The high refractive index parts 3''b... and the low refractive index parts 3''a... are arranged alternately from the upper side to the lower side, and the polymer waveguide 3'' is molded with synthetic resin to form a block body 4''. None, while a screw is screwed around the outer periphery of the block body 4'', it is connected to the optical fiber 3 on the light source side on the aggregate side (single side) of the high refractive index section 3''b of the polymer waveguide 3''. At the same time, each branched side of the high refractive index section 3''b... is connected to the optical fiber 3 on the light receiving side.
It is connected to...

According to the wear sensor A'' according to the second embodiment, since only one optical fiber 3 is required on the light source side, only one light source is required, and there are also fewer external optical fibers, which is an advantage that it is economical. There is.

[Effect of idea]

In the case of the present invention as described above, since the optical transmission part that wears out is composed of a polymer waveguide, it is possible to determine the position and curvature of the high refractive index part with precision during the manufacturing process. This method has higher accuracy than the conventional method, which determines the position of each optical fiber individually. Furthermore, the formation of the high refractive index portion in the polymer waveguide is automated and manufacturing is easy.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic partially cutaway perspective view of the first embodiment of the wear sensor according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the main part of the body to be worn showing the mounting state thereof, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a schematic partially cutaway perspective view of the second embodiment. A... Wear sensor, B... Body to be worn, b... Peripheral wall, 3... Optical fiber, 3'b, 3''b... High refractive index portion (of polymer waveguide).

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A plurality of high refractive index portions each serving as a separate optical path are
It is equipped with polymer waveguides that are sequentially arranged from one side toward the inside, one end of the high refractive index section is connected to the light source, the other end is connected to the light receiving side, and the one side is used as an object to be worn. A wear sensor characterized by being designed to be visible.